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What’s Wrong With This Class Photo?

byJudy DuttonJun 19, 2013

At first glance, this looks like your average elementary
school photo, only with a disabled boy in a wheelchair off to the side, smiling
wide. But think about it: If you were that disabled boy’s parents, how would
you feel, seeing your son separated from the other 2nd graders, leaning
toward them as if he wished he could be part of the group?

Anne Belanger and Don Ambridge, it turns out, were those
parents. And the New Westminster, Canadian couple wasn't happy about it one
bit. “Look at the angle that he was in,”
Belanger told a local newspaper called The Province
after the picture appeared on its front page last week. “He’s ostracized. He
wants to be part of the gang so much. This is setting precedents for not only
Miles, but for other kids and individuals with disabilities. I’m not on a
warpath. I just want to bring awareness that this was not acceptable.”

The boy, Miles, has spinal muscular atrophy and has never
walked. This image portraying him as an outsider has since gone viral, and
sparked such an outrage that the professional photography company that took it,
Lifetouch Canada, agreed to reshoot Miles among his peers. “People make mistakes, and unfortunately this one has
had a very lasting effect on both of the parents, the school and Lifetouch,”
said regional sales manager Greg Tarapaski. “It’s wrong, but it doesn’t mean it
was intentional,” Ambridge said of the original photo. “It just means that
somebody dropped the ball for a moment, and that can be incredibly hurtful.”